Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Hi Marc;

Just wondering if there are plans to improve the Console Conversion app?

I noticed that MANY things are left out of the conversion. I've been trying some conversions between M7CL<->PM5D<->CL5.
What I've noticed are specifically left out are:

- Recall Safe settings
- Selective Recall (or Focus) settings
- Input/Output Patch

I know the PM5D in particular is strange in it's configuration with it's linked libraries, but the conversion program is not all that useful if it can't convert more than it does.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Riley Casey said:
Thanks for your responses Marc, glad to see the power of this sort of fora being leveraged for the benefit of users and manufacturers. One request that I forgot is with regard to the editor app and this has been so long standing I'm chagrined at having forgotten it. The pm5d editor had the option for exporting the input and output patch lists, something that has been missing from all the subsequent editor software. This is increasingly valuable as the channel counts and cross patch capabilities of the CL and now QL consoles come on line. When can we see that option return? Spitting out tab text from computer program would seem to be low hanging fruit.
Click to expand...

Hi Riley,


Sorry for the delay in response! The CSV export function is a highly requested function for CL. We're hoping to have it make a return sooner than later.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Andrew Broughton said:
Hi Marc;

Just wondering if there are plans to improve the Console Conversion app?

I noticed that MANY things are left out of the conversion. I've been trying some conversions between M7CL<->PM5D<->CL5.
What I've noticed are specifically left out are:

- Recall Safe settings
- Selective Recall (or Focus) settings
- Input/Output Patch

I know the PM5D in particular is strange in it's configuration with it's linked libraries, but the conversion program is not all that useful if it can't convert more than it does.
Click to expand...

Hi Andy,

I appreciate the feedback. One of the challenges with the console convertor is that there isn't a 1:1 parameter parity amongst the 3 consoles you mention. CL and PM5D have greater granularity on features like Recall Safe and Focus than M7Cl, and there are still a few differences between CL and PM5D. With I/O patch, there are many differences between the various consoles. For instance PM5D and M7 may have AD1-48 as patch sources while CL relies on DANTE 1-64 for its primary inputs. We could make logical assumptions for these conversions, but we primarily intended the tool to convert mixing parameters.

We'll add your requests to our upgrade list and investigate it further.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Hi Marc,

Kudos on the CL series!!! I picked up my CL5 in early December and have used it on a live theater show, a music show and two game shows so far. I have to say I LOVE THIS BOARD!!!! The ability to very simply alter my routing schemes from the CL touchscreen makes my job (especially on the game shows) so much easier. Can't wait for the Dugan upgrade (how long will I have to wait for that?) One thing, however, does have me a bit confounded... Why am I not able to route my channel inserts to/from Dante channels? It would make a lot of sense to allow this and would require a very minor firmware tweak... maybe in the next update?
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

One more feature request for the CL and QL consoles: One of the two important work flows for monitor mixing is easily addressed by sends on fader mode on both the consoles and the iPad app. One that was a mainstay of analog consoles and the PM5D and M7 was being able address all of the mixes from a given channel on a single surface. This of course isn't an option with the LS9s, CL and QL consoles but a close approximation could easily be. I notice that the iPad app for at least one of the low cost consoles from another vendor has a screen of mix sends from a single channel. This would be a valuable add for the Yamaha iPad apps and worth considering as an add to the Centralogic faders as sends in sets of eight from a single channel thus a UDK could permit moving those faders in three layers between the 24 sends. This would move the CL5 in particular up the ladder toward being a usable monitor console with the functions of the PM5D.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Glenn Gaines said:
Hi Marc,

Kudos on the CL series!!! I picked up my CL5 in early December and have used it on a live theater show, a music show and two game shows so far. I have to say I LOVE THIS BOARD!!!! The ability to very simply alter my routing schemes from the CL touchscreen makes my job (especially on the game shows) so much easier. Can't wait for the Dugan upgrade (how long will I have to wait for that?) One thing, however, does have me a bit confounded... Why am I not able to route my channel inserts to/from Dante channels? It would make a lot of sense to allow this and would require a very minor firmware tweak... maybe in the next update?
Click to expand...

Hi Glenn,

I'm glad you are enjoying the CL! You'll have to wait for the Dugan upgrade later this year - the V2 upgrade coming out soon will have some other great features we've been working on. I hate to give disappointing news, but the Dante ports cannot route to the insert points on CL. The DSP architecture simply won't accommodate it. I agree that it it would be quite useful, and we made that adjustment in the QL architecture to allow it.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Riley Casey said:
One more feature request for the CL and QL consoles: One of the two important work flows for monitor mixing is easily addressed by sends on fader mode on both the consoles and the iPad app. One that was a mainstay of analog consoles and the PM5D and M7 was being able address all of the mixes from a given channel on a single surface. This of course isn't an option with the LS9s, CL and QL consoles but a close approximation could easily be. I notice that the iPad app for at least one of the low cost consoles from another vendor has a screen of mix sends from a single channel. This would be a valuable add for the Yamaha iPad apps and worth considering as an add to the Centralogic faders as sends in sets of eight from a single channel thus a UDK could permit moving those faders in three layers between the 24 sends. This would move the CL5 in particular up the ladder toward being a usable monitor console with the functions of the PM5D.
Click to expand...

Hi Riley,

I understand your request for the StageMix App, but I'm not sure i quite understand the request for the Centralogic faders. On CL, there are 16 hardware MIX send encoders with bank buttons to access al 32 sends in the Selected Channel area, as well as 16 soft knobs on the touch screen either from the Centralogic screen (x8 channels) or from the soft selected channel screen. Can you explain your suggestion further?
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

My mistake in lumping the CL5 in with the LS9 and QL5. I meant that the 'sends from a single channel' functionality for those consoles that lack physical channel sends could be largely met by allowing sends from say custom fader level on the LS9 and QL5 consoles. The Centralogic reference was out in space entirely.

Marc Lopez said:
Hi Riley,

I understand your request for the StageMix App, but I'm not sure i quite understand the request for the Centralogic faders. On CL, there are 16 hardware MIX send encoders with bank buttons to access al 32 sends in the Selected Channel area, as well as 16 soft knobs on the touch screen either from the Centralogic screen (x8 channels) or from the soft selected channel screen. Can you explain your suggestion further?
Click to expand...
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Hi Marc,
Sorry I'm late to this topic. I just found this site, and stumbled across this thread.

I'm a huge fan of Yamaha, and have been for many years. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the factory in Hamamatsu a few years back as well. Very impressive!

I usually relate Yamaha to another Japanese company...Honda. They might not be the flashiest, loudest, fastest or the car you go pick up chicks in on the weekend. But your consoles will work every single time, get you out of a jam and probably out live my career as a sound guy! They are designed well, easy to use and work exactly like a console should! (this might sound like a back-handed compliment, but it is not meant that way!)

I've been on shows where the lowly Yamaha monitor console has saved the show when the much more expensive, "state of the art" FOH console goes down.


Two comments:
Studio manager is great, and has got me out of a few tough situations. I usually keep it open on a separate screen just to see more areas of the console.
The only critique I have is that it seems to be a bit behind the times. The graphics are a bit dated, installation is a bit cumbersome, and it doesn't seem to use the full potential of newer computers (the installation instructions talk about Windows 98 and serial connections...dinosaurs by today’s standards!)

I'd love to see a Yamaha CA hosted forum for questions, feature requests, bugs, how-to's, etc. There are a ton of users out there that have a wealth of information and hands-on knowledge who could contribute as well. Getting all this knowledge to one location would be awesome. I've always felt strange e-mailing a generic tech support e-mail address...a more personal touch on tech support would be a welcome change in the industry.

Keep up the great work!

Josh
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Hi Marc,

I have mixed quite a number of concerts on CL consoles and think it is quite good. I have two requests.

The two requests I would like to suggest are: some kind of auto update tool, to make programming changes during tech weeks easy. This kind of tool always needs a scope feature attached to it to select which parameters will be auto updated. Digico's SD consoles have done a good job of this.

I also think it would be really neat if there was a Rio box that was a frame for Mini-YGDAI cards. Presumably either two or four cards. This would make it much easier to integrate a variety of digital io into complex systems.

Regards,

Phillip
 
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Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Josh Anderson said:
Hi Marc,
Sorry I'm late to this topic. I just found this site, and stumbled across this thread.

I'm a huge fan of Yamaha, and have been for many years. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the factory in Hamamatsu a few years back as well. Very impressive!

I usually relate Yamaha to another Japanese company...Honda. They might not be the flashiest, loudest, fastest or the car you go pick up chicks in on the weekend. But your consoles will work every single time, get you out of a jam and probably out live my career as a sound guy! They are designed well, easy to use and work exactly like a console should! (this might sound like a back-handed compliment, but it is not meant that way!)

I've been on shows where the lowly Yamaha monitor console has saved the show when the much more expensive, "state of the art" FOH console goes down.


Two comments:
Studio manager is great, and has got me out of a few tough situations. I usually keep it open on a separate screen just to see more areas of the console.
The only critique I have is that it seems to be a bit behind the times. The graphics are a bit dated, installation is a bit cumbersome, and it doesn't seem to use the full potential of newer computers (the installation instructions talk about Windows 98 and serial connections...dinosaurs by today’s standards!)

I'd love to see a Yamaha CA hosted forum for questions, feature requests, bugs, how-to's, etc. There are a ton of users out there that have a wealth of information and hands-on knowledge who could contribute as well. Getting all this knowledge to one location would be awesome. I've always felt strange e-mailing a generic tech support e-mail address...a more personal touch on tech support would be a welcome change in the industry.

Keep up the great work!

Josh
Click to expand...

Hi Josh,

i appreciate the comments. We started to phase out the use of Studio Manager as the host for our editor software starting with CL Editor a few years ago (CL and QL Editor are stand-alone). Our Studio Manager manuals do still refer to Win2000/XP, even though we have updated it to work with Win 7/8.

We have considered having a Yamaha-specific user forum, but found that the internet seems to have met the requirement for peer-based assistance in forums such as this one, and focused our efforts towards our phone/email support. So I cannot promise anything anything, but we will re-evaluate the situation again. And if you don't want to email us, you can talk to a human Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm California time at 1-866-211-9366. Our techs are standing by… We take feature requests on that line as well!
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Phillip Pietruschka said:
Hi Marc,

I have mixed quite a number of concerts on CL consoles and think it is quite good. I have two requests.

The two requests I would like to suggest are: some kind of auto update tool, to make programming changes during tech weeks easy. This kind of tool always needs a scope feature attached to it to select which parameters will be auto updated. Digico's SD consoles have done a good job of this.

I also think it would be really neat if there was a Rio box that was a frame for Mini-YGDAI cards. Presumably either two or four cards. This would make it much easier to integrate a variety of digital io into complex systems.

Regards,

Phillip
Click to expand...

Hi Philip,

Thank you for your suggestions. We are studying many ideas and preparing for the next versions of firmware upgrades. I will add your requests to our list.
 
Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Marc Lopez said:
Hi Josh,

i appreciate the comments. We started to phase out the use of Studio Manager as the host for our editor software starting with CL Editor a few years ago (CL and QL Editor are stand-alone). Our Studio Manager manuals do still refer to Win2000/XP, even though we have updated it to work with Win 7/8.

We have considered having a Yamaha-specific user forum, but found that the internet seems to have met the requirement for peer-based assistance in forums such as this one, and focused our efforts towards our phone/email support. So I cannot promise anything anything, but we will re-evaluate the situation again. And if you don't want to email us, you can talk to a human Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm California time at 1-866-211-9366. Our techs are standing by… We take feature requests on that line as well!
Click to expand...

I would love... love...love to be able to make custom pages in the computer software editors (I'm thinking drag and drop from all the existing pages). A lot if my customers have extremely varying skill sets and allowing me to create a control page with just the essentials would be awesome.


Sent from my iPhone
 
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Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Hi Marc,

I was looking at a QL yesterday for a number of applications. One of these is for monitor mixing.

I discovered that you can't patch a channel direct out to an FX processor. This is a big waste of auxes when dealing with reverbs for multiple vocalists. An insert isnt really the answer because you still want to be able to have the dry vocal and reverb return on separate input faders.

Secondly, It would be nice to have an option to have mixes flip to fader following cue or even select.

Is this something that can be addressed in software?
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Marc Lopez said:
Hi Philip,

Thank you for your suggestions. We are studying many ideas and preparing for the next versions of firmware upgrades. I will add your requests to our list.
Click to expand...

Marc,

Having now mixed a *small* musical on the CL since I last posted, I have a better grasp of the automation on the console. One overwhelming short coming I found with the current system - for theatrical applications - is that there is not 'DCAs' option for Channels in the Focus section. I understand that you have to select 'All' to include DCA assignments for a channel. Which pretty well makes the focus section completely useless for radio mic channels (since they will all, always, be set to all).

I hope this can be addressed in a future update.

Regards,

Phillip
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Chris Johnson said:
I discovered that you can't patch a channel direct out to an FX processor. This is a big waste of auxes when dealing with reverbs for multiple vocalists. An insert isnt really the answer because you still want to be able to have the dry vocal and reverb return on separate input faders.
Click to expand...

Have you tried using the insert out, but returning the FX to separate channels? I think the insert out is active even if the insert is turned off. If not, it should be.

Mac
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

mackerr said:
Have you tried using the insert out, but returning the FX to separate channels? I think the insert out is active even if the insert is turned off. If not, it should be.

Mac
Click to expand...
Both of the 2 inserts available on each channel can be sent to an FX, and the effect (as long as it's not a processor like a comp or eq, can be returned into another channel). The only difference is there's no send level control but that should be of no consequence.
It's odd though that they specifically didn't include the direct out as a possible input to an internal effect. The direct out can only be sent to a hardware output.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

mackerr said:
Have you tried using the insert out, but returning the FX to separate channels? I think the insert out is active even if the insert is turned off. If not, it should be.

Mac
Click to expand...

Yeah, that works, but I want to use the inserts for inserts. And since both the inserts have the same pickoff point, what I need is a post-fade direct out send to my FX engine.
 
Re: Marc Lopez of Yamaha Commercial Audio Q&A

Chris Johnson said:
Yeah, that works, but I want to use the inserts for inserts. And since both the inserts have the same pickoff point, what I need is a post-fade direct out send to my FX engine.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's an issue. I can't see any reason that at least one of these 2 things couldn't be changed in software:
1. Make Direct out patchable to the input of anything internal, same options as an insert
and/or
2. Make the 2 inserts have independently selectable pickoff points.
 
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